Balloon target shooting apparatus



Feb. 16, 1960 F. E. RYAN, JR

' BALLOON TARGET snoo'rmc APPARATUS Filed Sept 16, 1958 INVENTOR. FRANK 5. RYAN UR.

Arm QM United States Patent 9 2,925,078 BALLOON TARGET SHOOTING APPARATUS Frank E. Ryan, Jr., Rocky Hill, Conn. Application September 16, 1958, Serial No. 761,373

8 Claims. (Cl. 124-47) This invention relates to target devices and is directed particularly to a portable moving target apparatus for practice in shooting or striking with projectiles from rifles, shotguns, hand guns, bows or sling shots.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a portable apparatus that can readily be tripped at a distance to set into swift motion over a limited distances a light-weight object such as a balloon for moving target practice. l

Another object of this invention is to provideatarget practice apparatus .of the above nature which can be quickly set up for use in an open field, for example, and which can readily be adjusted for controlling the speed and distance travelled by the moving target.

Still another object is to provide a target practice apparatus of the character described, which will be inexpensive to manufacture, compact, easy to set up and adjust, foolproof, and long-wearing in operation.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description when read with reference to the accompanying drawings where Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a target shooting apparatus embodying the invention, set up ready for use.

Fig. 2 is a partial view in elevation, and on an en larged scale, of the trigger post mechanism, illustrating details of the trigger mechanism for releasing the moving target.

Fig. 3 is a separate elevational view of the trigger post together with its trigger rod and remote triggering card.

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the central pole, shown separately.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the top portion of the central pole, illustrating the top guide ring in greater detail.

' Fig. 6 is a partial view, in elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the back stay post.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, wherein like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, the moving target shooting apparatus comprises an inflated target balloon 10 fastened to one end of an elastic rubber thread 11 which passes through a small circular opening in a guide member 18 secured at the upper end of a central pole 16, the other end of said thread being secured to the upper end of a back stay post 26.

As illustrated in Fig. 6, a snap swivel 25, which may, for example, be a standard fishing tackle swivel device, is preferably connected between the back end of the elastic thread 11 and an eye hook 24 fixed near the upper end of the post 26.

Means is provided for remotely releasing the target balloon 10 from its set position near the upper end of the trigger post 19, the same comprising an elongated Wire trigger rod 12 guided for vertical movement in a pair of staples 22 nailed in axially spaced relation near the top end of said trigger post (see Fig. 3). The trigger 2,925,078 Patented Feb. 16, 1950 rod 12 is provided with a U-bentportion 12w which abuts the upper staple 22 to limit its downward movement. When in its lowermost abutting position, the upper end of the trigger rod 12 will lie slightly below the upper end of the trigger post 19. The lower end of the trigger rod 12 is looped at 12b to provide anchoring means for securing thereto one end of a trigger cord 13. The trigger cord 13 passes through a guide staple 21 near the lower end of the trigger post 19' and extends to a remote position for use in releasing the target balloon 10 into flying motion in the manner hereinbelow more fully described.

The remote releasing means also comprises a wire target holder 15, formed with a hook 14a at one end for attachment to the knotted neck of the inflated target balloon 10 (see Fig. 2). It is also provided with a ring 17 at its other end, and a central ring 14.

A snap swivel 25 preferably also interconnects the target holder 15 and the front end of the elastic thread 11.

As illustrated in Fig. 2, the central ring 14 of the target holder 15 is of such size as to loosely receive the upper end of the trigger rod 12 when the latter is in an upwardly-extended position.

The target shooting apparatus is preferably set up so that the distance between the trigger post 19 and the central pole 16 is from 50 to feet, and. the distance from the central pole 16 to the back stay 26 is from 30 to 50 feet. Moreover, the unstretched length of the elastic thread 11 is preferably about 30 feet, so that it will be stretched to between 3 and 5 times its length when the apparatus is set up and ready to be triggered.

The central pole 16 is preferably made of threeinterfitting sections 16a, 16b and 160, the bottom section 16c being in the form of a stake about of an inch in diameter, which is driven into the ground, as are the trigger post 19 and the back stay 26. The upper sections 16a, 16b of the pole 16 are preferably of flexible fiber glass or flexible steel rod, such as are used in standard spinning or casting rods. The over-all length of the pole 16 is preferably about 8 feet.

Operation In use, after setting up the apparatus as described above, the target holder 15, attached to which will be the inflated balloon 10, will be placed over the upper end of the trigger post 19, stretching the elastic thread 11. The slidable trigger member 12 will then be pushed upwardly through the central ring portion 14 thereof. When the trigger cord 13 is pulled, thereafter, from its remote position, either by an assistant or by the shooter himself, as by a movement of his foot, for example, the trigger rod 12 will be pulled down out of the ring portion 14 of the target holder 15 to release the latter and allow the target balloon 10 to be pulled with great velocity toward the upper end of the central pole 16, under the force of the elastic thread 11.

The end ring portion 17 of the target holder 15 is of course made large enough to prevent its passage through the smaller circular opening in the guide member 18 at the top of the pole 16 so as to limit the travel of the target holder 15 and the target balloon 10.

As illustrated in the broken-line representation of the central pole 16 in Fig. 1, said pole can readily be bent over for retrieving the target holder 15 and the balloon '10, whether punctured by the target practice shot or not, refitting with a new target balloon if necessary, and resetting with the trigger rod 12 prior to the next practice shot.

The speed and time of flight of the target balloon 210 can be varied by changing the size of the balloon, the size of the rubber thread 11, or by moving either or both of the trigger east 19 and the back stay post 26 farther away from the center pole 16 to create a greater tension in the elastic thread 11.

For convenience in storing, the trigger post 1 9 is fitted with spaced reversely sen eless 20, upon which the trigger cord 13 canbe wound. Similarly, the back stay post 26 is providedtwith a pair of spaced cleats 23 upon which the elastic thread 11 can be wound; H

While there has been disclosed in this specification one form in which the invention may conveniently be embodied in practice, his to be understood that this form is presented for the purpose o f illustration only, and that the invention is not limited, to the specific di'sclosure, but may be, modified and embodied in various other equivalent forms without'departing from its spirit. In short, the inventionincludes'all.the modifications and embodiments coming within the scope of the'following claims. r i

Having thus fully described" the invention,'.what is claimed as new and for which'it is desired to secure Letters Patent is:

1. In a moving target shooting apparatus, the combination comprising an elastic thread, a target object, means for attaching said target object to one end of said thread, a back stay post adapted .to be driven into the ground, and having the other .end of said thread attached thereto; a center pole structure having a circular guide hole at its upper end and adapted to be driven into the ground at its lower end in spaced relation from said back stay post, said elastic thread passing through said circular guide 'hole, a trigger post adapted to be driven into the ground in spaced relation to said center pole structure and in alignment with said,back staypost, and releasable means for holding said target attaching means'on said trigger post when said thread is stretched between said back stay post and said trigger post through said circular guide hole. a 7

2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said target attaching means comprises an elongated member formed with a loop at one end of greater size than the hole in said guide member to limit the motion of said target object substantially to the distance between said trigger post and said center pole.

3. The apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said center pole structure is of a flexible material, whereby said elongated member and target object can readily be retrieved by pulling downwardly upon the upper end of said pole structure, a a 4.The apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein said pole structure comprises a lower stake section and a plurality of upper sections of decreasing size interfitted'together in axial alignment.

5. The apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said releasable means comprises a loop formed intermediate the ends of said elongated member, a trigger member slidably arranged on said trigger post and having one end portion engageable in said loop, and remotely actuable means for Withdrawing said trigger member from said loop. I J V t '6. The apparatuses defined in claim 5., wherein said trigger member withdrawing means comprises a cord secured to the other end portion of said trigger member. 7. The apparatus as defined in claim 6, including two pairs of spaced cleat members provided on said trigger post and said back stay post respectively for Winding thereupon of said trigger cord and said elastic thread respectively, when the apparatus is in storage. I r V 8. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said target object is an inflated balloon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 389,741

Day' et al. Sept. 18 1888' 707,000 Pease ;t Aug. 12, 1902 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,045,446 France June 24, 1953' 

